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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is challenging the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura to reveal the actions that he has taken against the Gauteng personal protective equipment (PPE) looters.

So far nothing has been done to the looters as they continue to walk free and enjoy their daily lives despite the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) report exposing all the money that they have stolen from the people of Gauteng.

Premier Makhura claims that he has acted against the former Health MEC, Bandile Masuku, former Acting Head of the Gauteng Department of Health, Professor Mkhululi Lukhele and former Chief Financial Officer of the Gauteng Department of Health; Ms Kabelo Lehloenya. If his claims are true, then why does the SIU report state the following on page 231: 

 “No recommendation for disciplinary action could be made against the former CFO, Ms Lehloenya, as she had resigned from the services of the Gauteng DoH with effect from 1 August 2020. No recommendation for additional disciplinary action could be made against Prof Lukhele (the HoD of the Gauteng DoH), because he resigned with immediate effect on or about 3 October 2020.”

The above evidence indicates that officials have resigned as a way of escaping accountability even if the Premier had forced them to resign. 

The fact that the officials have resigned does not mean that the Premier has taken action, criminal charges must be laid against them. 

Furthermore, there are no criminal charges that have been laid against the former Health MEC, Bandile Masuku for the role that he played in irregularly awarding the Royal Bhaca Projects (Pty) Ltd and Ledla Structural Development (Pty) Ltd a contract to supply PPE. 

The SIU report findings also state that the former MEC failed to fulfil his obligations to comply with the Constitution and failed his general oversight responsibilities in respect of his department failing to comply with the prescripts of the Constitution.

In addition, the Premier claims that the pension fund of the former MEC Masuku, Lukhele and Lehloenya were frozen so that the Gauteng government can recoup some of the stolen funds. We demand evidence to support this claim.

If Premier Makhura is serious about acting against those implicated in the Gauteng PPE corruption and those that have failed in their oversight role, why has he not acted on the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi?

The Gauteng Department of Education has irregularly awarded contracts to the value of R427 686 242.29 to 270 service providers for decontamination of Gauteng schools. All this happened under the watch of MEC Lesufi who is the political head of the department. MEC Lesufi, like former MEC Masuku, has failed in his oversight responsibilities to ensure that his department complies with the prescripts of the Constitution and supply chain management processes. Perhaps, former MEC Masuku became an easy victim because he is a political lightweight compared to MEC Lesufi who enjoys the support of a bigger constituency in the ANC across the province. If this is true, then it’ll also expose that taxpayers interest takes a back seat while cadre’s protection is paramount.

 We demand that Premier Makhura must lay criminal charges against all those implicated and recover all the monies that have been stolen from the Gauteng government. We also demand that Premier Makhura provide evidence on what actions he has taken against the looters as a matter of urgency.

Issued by DA Gauteng Leader of the Opposition, Solly Msimanga MPL